Bottled bevekage cooler



y 1954 K. J. HELSING 2,679,143

BOTTLED BEVERAGE COOLER I Filed April 9, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENATQR I KNUDYJ.HIEILSING ATTORN EY WITNESSES:

K. .1.v HELSlNG BOTTLE-1D BEVERAGE cooLER May 25, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 9, 1952 FIG-2. INVENTOR KNU D J. HELSING ATTORNEY WITNESSESzV Patented May 25; 1954 li TIES PATI'LI:I1\IT! OFF?! 2,679J43 BQTTLED BEVERAGE COOLER Knud J. Helsing; Longmeadow, Mass.,--assignon-to- WestinghciiseEleetric iloriporation, East Pitts-i5 burgh, :Paz, a corporation Qt -Pennsylvania Application April 9, 1952, Serial-No. 281,299

(Cl. 62-J-102) 2 Claims.

This invention relates to refrigeratingapparatus and more particularlyto' dry coolers-for bottled beverages.

Itis an object of this invention to 'provide an improved bottled :beveragewooler'of the socalled'-up'-right variety." In this type-of cooler, the bottles to be cooled are stored on vertically spaced shelves disposed withina heat insulated cabinet structure. "The shelvesare generally inclin'ed to permit the'bottles stored thereon toroll by gravity'to' one'side ofithe cabinet, from'which they are removed, as required, through one or more small serving openings in the front of the cabinet. As the end bottle is removed from each shelfth'e remaining bottles rollv down-the incline 'to present another bottletadjacentthe serving opening for removal. 'The bottles are cooled by the circulation of coldairwitin'n' the cabinet and itiis another objector" this invention to provide an improved, air circulating syst'einfor'beverage coolers of the above described type;

A further object of'my inventionxis toprovide rapid. coolingof thosebottle's, which have been soiplaced in the cooler as to'befir'st available for serving.

Astilljfurth'er object of myiinvention istoicontrol ithiflo'w .of oool.air,.within' the cooler and thereby. compensate f or the additionalheat leakagei into that region .o'ffthe cabinet adjacent'the servingopening. Y

These and other objects are effected by my invention as .will. be apparent .from the following description taken iniconnection with the accompanying rdrawings, forming a part. of this application innwhichf V FigLlisa perspective view of'a bottledbe'veragecooler embodying my invention;

Fig'gZ is'a front View of the cooler illustrated inliigll with thedoor open and-portions of the structure cutaway toishow details of construclion-,

[Fig.3v isan end view of my improved, beverage cooler with portions of. th'ecabinet structure lbrokenaway to show thein'terior of'the cooling ignates generallypa refrigerator cabinet divided into anupper. insulated bottle'cooling chamber or compartment] I and a lower'machinery compartment '12." The front otboth" thebottle' cooling :cornpartment l t-and machinerv'compartmenti 2 "are-closed by an insulated doorie hinged at! 4 i accommodate various length. bottles.

to the cabinet-id; The door it is opened and closedby a 'handle'dt connected to a suitable latching mechanism-for holding the door in-'-its closed position; The latchingmechanism "is" not shown for the sake-of brevity. The bottle coolingcompartment' it comprises a top wall it; a bottom wall H, a back Wall Hiandside"walls it andiit.

Disposed withinth'e bottle coo-ling compartment ii are a number ofvertica-lly-spaced-im clinedshelves 2i arranged 'to support; bottled beverages 22 in a horizontal position with, their cap ends forward. The shelvesz'l are supported on the cabinet side walls is and" Min any suitmanner as by bracket members '23; The

shelves 25 are formed preferably of sheet'metal and are provided withan upturned fiangeM at their rear edges to engage and position the rear end of the bottles 22: The shelves Zi may also be provided with a downturned flange 25ontheir forward edge if additional strength is desired. As shown inFi'gs. 3 and 4, the shelves 21. may be'so constructed as tobe' movable forward or backward on the flange members 23' in order that theymay It. will be noted. that. thewidth vcfmthe shelves, is such .as c to leave. a space between the reartedge of theshelf and the cabinet back wall it. and between the front edge of the shelf andthe cabinet front wall or door [3. This spacing. provides passagesfor the flow of cooling air to andfrom thebottle as will hereinafter bedescribed.

As best shown in Fig. '2, theshelves 2! are inclined downwardly toward the rcornpartmentzside wall. IS. It will be thu evident-rthat any bottles placedon the shelves 2! would tend to;ro1l by gravitytoward the side :walllt. To permit removal of the bottles fromthecooler, a vending opening Eels provided in and; along .t'helefhhand edge of. the 0&bll18t'dOOlZi'3. Thisxvendinaflpcning 26 is closed by a door 27 which is hingedat 28 to the cabinet door 53'. "Themeripheraledge of the opening 26 is provided with a gasket'merm ber zewhich'is engaged bythe-vending door-2i when in its closed position to prevent warm air from entering the cooling chaniber i 1. The door 27 is'provided with a transparent portion Bil-to permit the contents of the cooler to-abeaseertained without the necessity for opening the vending door 2'5. The vending door 2'! is also provided with a handle 3! which is associated with-suitable latching mechanism;- the latter not being shown" for the salreof brevity.

Secured to -thelower---wal1 ii or the cooling compartment H and disposed to one side thereof is a cooling unit 32. While the cooling unit may be of any suitable construction, I have illustrated a generally rectangular unit comprising a refrigerated coil 33 having a number of heat transfer fins 34 mounted thereon As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the cooling unit 32 is mounted in a forward portion of the cooling compartment ii and beneath the lowermost of the shelves 2|. Directly behind the cooling unit 32 is mounted a motor driven fan 35 which is supported on the compartment bottom wall ll by a bracket 35. The fan 35 is surrounded by a shroud 3? having the same rectangular configuration as the air path through the cooling unit 32. The shroud 31 extends from the cooling unit 32 to the rear wall iii of the cooling compartment II and is provided with an elongated opening 38 in its upper surface 39 adjacent the back wall it.

The cold air pulled through the cooling unit 32 by the fan 35 is discharged upwardly through opening 38 in the fan shroud 3i and passes into the upper portions of the cooling chamber ll through the air passage space between the rear edges of the shelves 2! and the compartment back wall I8. This cold air then passes forward between the shelves 2i, over the bottles 22 on the shelves and returns to the cooling unit via the air passage provided between the front edges of the shelves 2i and the compartment front door 53. f

In order to prevent the cold air discharged by the fan 35 from passing beneath the lowermost bottle shelf 2 l, a baifie 58 is secured by any suitable means, as by screws that, to the compartment back wall H3. The bafiie til is positioned parallel to and extends forward to the rear edge of the lowermost shelf 2i. The baiiie til is also provided with a turned down end portion :3! which engages a corner of the fan shroud 3?.

Whenever the cooler is loaded with a fresh supply of warm bottles, it is desirable that those bottles which are to be first consumed, that is, those bottles near the side wall 59 and behind the vending door 27, be cooled first. To insure such operation, there is provided above the fan discharge opening 38, an inclined deflector 2 for directing the air coming from the cooling unit 32 generally toward the side wall 59 and hence over the bottles which are to be first consumed. The baffle 42 is secured to the back wall i8 of the cooling chamber by any suitable means, such as by screws ts, and extends forward into the air passage space between the shelves 2i and the back wall it. The angle of inclination of the baffle 42 of course depends upon the design and arrangement of the cooler in which it is employed and may be varied to suit the requirements of different coolers. The arrows within the cooling chamber H of the various figures of the drawings indicate generally the path taken by the cooling air when circulated within the cooler.

The directing of the major portion of the cooling air over the bottles adjacent the serving opening additionally compensates for any heat leakage into the cabinet resulting from the in flow of warm air during periods when the serving door 2! is open. There is also a tendency for additional heat to leak around and through the transparent serving door 2? even when it is closed. This additional heat leakage is fully compensated for by the increased how of cooling air to that portion of the refrigerated chamber.

The tube 53 of the cooling unit 32 is supplied with a refrigerant from conventional mechanical refrigerating equipment located within the machinery compartment l2. This refrigerating equipment comprises generally a hermeticallysealed casing 44 which encloses a refrigerant compressor and a motor for driving the same, neither of which are shown. A condenser 45 condenses the refrigerant vapor compressed by the compressor which is then conveyed to the cooling unit 32 through a capillary tube 85. The vaporized refrigerant returns to the compressor through a conduit 41.

The cooling unit 32, in lowering the temperature of the air within the cooling chamber I I, will condense from this air a quantity of water which is removed from the cooling chamber by a drain and trap arrangement 43 extending through the bottom wall I! of the cooling compartment. Ihis water is discharged into a pan or tray 49 within the machinery compartment I2 and is vaporized by the heat from the refrigerating equipment.

It will be apparent from the above that this invention provides a bottled beverage cooler having many novel advantages and features. The cooler herein described is capable of eificiently cooling a large number of bottled beverages and of storing them in a manner such as to permit ready removal of any particular brand of bottled beverage though a number of brands are stored therein. The invention further provides for rapid cooling of those bottles which are to be consumed first after the cooler has been filled with warm bottles. Furthermore, provision is made for increasing the flow of cool air into those regions of the cooling chamber which are more likely to be subjected to an increased heat load from outside the cabinet.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof.

What I claim is:

1. In a cooler for bottled beverages, the combination of an insulated cabinet structure comprising top, bottom, back and side walls and defining a cooling chamber having an opening in the front thereof, a first insulated door for closing said opening, said first door having an opening therein providing access to said chamber, a second door for closing the opening in said first door, a plurality of vertically spaced inclined shelves disposed within said chamber, the inclination of said shelves being such as to cause bottled beverages placed thereon to roll to a portion of the shelves behind the access opening in said first door, said shelves being intermediate and spaced from the first door and rear wall of said cabinet structure to provide a pair of air passages in said chamber, a cooling unit disposed within said chamber, means for circulating air over said cooling unit, through one of said pair of passages, over the bottled beverages on said shelves, through the other of said pair of passages and back to said cooling unit, and a deflector positioned within said one air passage and arranged to direct at least a portion of the air passing over said cooling unit to a region of the chamber behind said access opening.

2. In a cooler for bottled beverages, the combination of an insulated cabinet structure hav ing top, bottom, back and side walls and a front wall comprising a door, said cabinet structure defining a cooling chamber, said door having an opening therein providing access to a region of said chamber, means for closing said opening, a plurality of vertically spaced inclined shelves disposed within said chamber and adapted to receive the bottled beverages to be cooled, the inclination of said shelves being such as to permit bottled beverages placed thereon to roll by gravity to a position behind said access opening, said shelves being intermediate and spaced from the front and rear walls of said cabinet structure to provide front and rear air passages in said chamher, a cooling unit disposed within said chamber, air circulating means within said chamber for circulating air over said cooling unit and into said rear air passage and a deflector disposed within said rear air passage for directing at least a portion of the air flowing through said passage to the region of said chamber accessible through 5 said opening.

Reierences Cite-ii in the file 01" this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

